Nicole Klopfenstein wonders what tales her family cat Felix would tell if he could speak.

She wagers the best would be about how the four-year-old black and white tabby survived in the wilderness for more than 100 days after a ferocious wildfire forced the evacuation of the Rocky Mountain town of Jasper, Alta., this summer.

B次元官网网址淲hat did he eat? He mustB次元官网网址檝e eaten mice,B次元官网网址� says Klopfenstein, a 41-year-old animal health technician born in Jasper.

B次元官网网址淢aybe he went to a house and he got some food there.What did he do every day?B次元官网网址�

Klopfenstein says Felix jumped out of a friendB次元官网网址檚 arms and ran away in Valemount, B.C., as a wildfire scorched one-third of JasperB次元官网网址檚 homes and businesses about 100 kilometres east.

A few nights earlier, she says she was babysitting Felix, who belongs to her sister, when Jasper ordered some 5,000 residents to leave as a wall of flames approached.

Klopfenstein says she grabbed Felix, and her own dog and cat, and started driving toward her dadB次元官网网址檚 cabin in Valemount. Her parents, who moved to Jasper from Switzerland in the 1970s, followed behind.

She says ash floated in the air and cars beelined to one exit in the town, moving slowly bumper to bumper.

B次元官网网址淚 just remember the sky was really red. I got the back seat full of all these animals, like the cat, the dog, the other cat meowing like, B次元官网网址榃hatB次元官网网址檚 going on?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Klopfenstein says after Felix ran away from the cabin, she spent four weeks putting up posters around town for the missing feline, posting on social media, setting up cat traps full of sardines and tuna, and waiting for word that Jasper residents could return.

She says intense heartache kept her up at night at the cabin. She kept thinking about the wildfire ravaging her community and how scared and alone Felix must be feeling.

She returned to Jasper a month later with her sister, who had left her vacation and reunited with her family to help with the search.

Klopfenstein says she returned to Jasper with a feeling of guilt because her home was standing but several belonging to her loved ones were ash.

A week later, she says she got a call from a woman who thought she saw Felix. Klopfenstein drove to Valemount again with her sister and caught a cat in her trap that wasnB次元官网网址檛 him.

She drove back to Jasper disappointed.

Then KlopfensteinB次元官网网址檚 phone rang again.

A woman sighted Felix on her homeB次元官网网址檚 security camera.

B次元官网网址淪o we went out again, set the trap, called him, but nothing,B次元官网网址� she says.

She returned home devastated, with brutal thoughts swirling of Felix in a ditch, getting hit by a car or roaming around hungry.

On Nov. 7, the same woman who had seen Felix on her security camera texted a photo of Felix hiding in a marsh 15 kilometres away from the family cabin.

B次元官网网址淚 look (at the photo), and IB次元官网网址檓 like, B次元官网网址極h my gosh, looks like him.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Klopfenstein says Felix would have had to cross train tracks and a busy highway to reach the marsh.

She and her sister raced to the area from Jasper one last time and caught Felix in a trap.

On the drive back home, Felix was quiet.

B次元官网网址淗e was relaxed and sort of grooming himself. He was quite feral when eating, which was a little bit disturbing.B次元官网网址�

Klopfenstein says Felix has regained weight since his return from the wilderness. SheB次元官网网址檚 grateful he survived while many other pets died in the flames because they couldnB次元官网网址檛 evacuate with their owners.

Jasper residents she bumps into ask about Felix constantly, and tell her heB次元官网网址檚 a reminder thereB次元官网网址檚 hope despite the devastation.

B次元官网网址淲hen youB次元官网网址檙e having a bad day, itB次元官网网址檚 like. B次元官网网址極h, he survived 100 days. I can do it too.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�